And it was the SECOND incident involving drones and planes in Scotland’s skies within three days of each other.

The Edinburgh drama on November 25 was rated by the UK Airprox Board – which investigates near misses – as Category A, its highest level in which serious risk of collision has existed.”

The plane was descending over the capital at 12.09pm when the pilot said they came “very close” to what appeared to be a drone.

The report said: “The crew noticed it quite late, as it appeared in the 11 o’clock position and passed down the left side of the aircraft at the same level. The pilot noted that there was no time to take avoiding action. The incident was reported to the controller and to police on landing.

“The drone operator could not be traced.

“Members agreed that, given the altitude, the done was being operated beyond visual line of sight and therefore that it had been flown into confliction with the A319.

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“When it came to assessing the risk, although the incident did not show on the NATS radars, the Board noted that the pilot had estimated the drone to be at the same height as the aircraft, and only about 75 feet away on the left.

“Acknowledging the difficulties in judging separation visually without external references, the Board considered that the pilot’s estimate of separation, allied to his overall account of the incident, portrayed a situation where collision had only been avoided by providence.

“The A319 pilot had not been able to take avoiding action and so the Board therefore determined the risk to be Category A.”

Just three days earlier another Airbus also had close run-in with a drone – this time over Kilmarnock.

The A320’s First Officer saw a red and black device, about 50cm x 50cm in size, pass down the left side of the aircraft and slightly below.

The report said: “The pilot noted that no action was possible in terms of flight-path change because, by the time it had been sighted and verbalised, it had passed behind.

“Air Traffic Control was informed and police met the aircraft at the stand and the crew gave a statement. He (the pilot) assessed the risk of collision as ‘medium’. The drone operator could not be traced.”

The plane managed to land safely.

The report added: “Acknowledging the difficulties in judging separation visually without external references, the Board considered that the pilot’s estimate of separation, allied to his overall account of the incident where he was able to describe the drone in some detail, portrayed a situation where safety was not assured.

“Allied to the fact that the A320 pilot had not been able to take avoiding action due to the late sighting and rapid passing of the drone, the Board therefore determined the risk to be Category B ( in which the safety of the aircraft may have been compromised.)”

Ministers are considering measures to enforce registration of all new drones so they can be better monitored, while the Department for Transport is also reviewing drone safety.

Pilots believe a collision with an airliner could be catastrophic and that the impact of a drone strike on a light plane or helicopter would almost certainly bring it down.

The British Airline Pilots Association has warned that the number of incidents could soar as people fly drones received as Christmas presents, often with little or no handling experience or understanding of the rules.